New Delhi: The Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Bill, which seeks to provide powers to grant degrees to 20 prestigious business institutes, was introduced in the Lok Sabha by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday. As per the bill, IIMs would be declared “institutions of national importance”.

The government has been advocating more autonomy to the institutes which excel in their fields and in line with this policy, the IIM Bill, 2017 proposes that the board of governors will be the principal executive body of each IIM.

The director of each institute will also be appointed by the board of governors out of a panel of names recommended by a search-cum-selection committee, which too would be constituted by the board.

An earlier draft of the bill had the provision of the President being the Visitor and choosing the director, but the Ministry of Human Resource Development had removed the provision to grant more autonomy to the institutes.

IIMs till now had been registered as societies and unable to grant degrees, including PhD, to their students.

In the ‘statement of objects and reasons’, Javadekar said that while Post Graduate Diploma in Management Programme (equivalent to MBA) was relatively unaffected, the Fellow Programme in Management (equivalent to PhD), without the formal degree nomenclature, has not been able to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country.

In the statement, he said that reservation in admissions will be provided as per Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006.

The Board of each institute shall consist of a chairperson, one nominee each of the Centre and the state government, four eminent persons (including a woman) distinguished in the field of education, industry, commerce, social service or public administration.

Two faculty members, one member from SC or ST sections and up to five persons co-opted from the alumni or who are members of the society of the existing institute would also be members of the Board. There would be at least three women members in the Board.

The Governing Board of IIMs will evaluate and review the performance of the institute within first three years of establishment and thereafter at least once in every three years. These institutes will maintain proper accounts and records which would be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

The Bill also lays down that there would be a Coordination Forum, with an eminent person as its chairman. This forum would discuss issues which are of common interest to all the IIMs.